


In Soft Darkness

by linkami1379



Series: Knowledge Is Power- When Applied with the Heart [1]
Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Dario Santiago, Dario loses it a little, During Ink and Bone, Hurt/Comfort, Jess Brightwell, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mentions of sincere friendships, Self-Sacrificing Jess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 02:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11957562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linkami1379/pseuds/linkami1379
Summary: Jess has always lived running for and from others. He runs for his father, he runs from the Library; he runs for his friends and from himself.There comes a time when Jess will be be rudely awakened by the fact he has others willing to run for him, too.





	In Soft Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!!
> 
> Look at that! Four whole fan fictions for this brilliant series!! My soul is crying!
> 
> Especially because I ship these two and there is nothing for me to binge-read concerning a self-sacrificing Brit and a pompous Spaniard. The struggle. 
> 
> This sort of just appeared in my Word Doc and it's not great, and I'm sure I'll read over it and be nauseous with the spelling errors and rusty transitions, but for now, I want to get it out and into the fandom. The characters will be slightly OOC because it's surprisingly hard to write them... Jess' thoughts are all over the place and we hardly ever see Dario in personal situations behind closed doors. 
> 
> Regardless, enjoy~
> 
> Inspiration song: I'll Be Good - Jaymes Young  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UperwijPtmw

It was an especially risky book drop, even in comparison to all the other book drops Jess had done in the heart of the Great Library. Jess’ heart was bounding in his chest as he attempted to control his breathing. The shrill call of a sphinx in the distance raised the hairs on his spine. The cool marble behind Jess calmed the back of his neck and he tapped gently on the stone in tone with his pulse until it finally slowed in the darkness. _Too close._ The empty harness on his chest rested soft and docile, but Jess couldn’t help but wish he needn’t wear it again. Jess inhaled deeply and pushed off the wall and out from the alley, back towards the Library. 

He knew the roads well by now and slipped quietly along in the shadows. By the time he reached his door, his breathing was regular and his pulse had long forgotten the fear of pursuit. Jess nearly felt the bed already, and longed for the scent of the room on the other side of the door. _Soft darkness, spices, musk cologne._ Jess opened the door and cracked it slowly, only to swing it open fully when light snaked across the bedroom floor. 

“Finally. I was about to worry for your well-being,” Dario Santiago drawled, draped in a silken robe and seated at his desk with his glow on full-strength. Jess froze in the light, but hastily regained his legs and turned to softly close the door behind him. Before he could put together a swift lie, Dario spoke again. 

“This is the longest it’s taken you, you know.” It wasn’t a question, nor was it an accusation. The statement hung in the air and Jess wasn’t sure what to do with it. _Does he know about my family? If he does, it still doesn’t help to talk with him on these matters, I can’t risk the Library finding anyone knowing about me—_ “You think with your heart, you know? I’m surprised you’re in this business with that face.” Dario stood and crossed the floor, his steps sharp and short. Jess couldn’t breathe as Dario entered his space and grabbed his bicep. _Stop standing so close to me, I can’t think with you here, I fucking hate when you’re so near me—_

“What are you doing,” Jess said, surprising himself with his leveled tone. Dario snarled and ripped at Jess’ shirtsleeve.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean-“ Jess snapped pulling his arm away only to see blood on Dario’s hands. Jess craned his neck to look at his shoulder and tapped a finger gently on the cut. It had long since stopped bleeding, and now that he saw it, it began to pulse slightly. Jess sighed. “It’s only a scratch, it’s nothing,” Jess said as he sidled away from Dario’s outstretched hand. “Don’t see why you waited up for me, I just wanted a walk.” Jess stepped towards the bathroom and found himself suddenly up against the wall with Dario’s forearm pressed against his neck. 

“You fucking self-righteous shit, you think I believe that?” Dario was nearly spitting in his face. “I know what you _do_ , runner.” Jess swallowed against Dario’s arm and, for the second time that night, felt the terror of being cornered while hunted. 

“You don’t know,” Jess whispered. Dario’s eyes flashed and burned Jess’ mind as thoughts completely unrequited beat against his heart. They stood there, closer than they had ever been before, and Jess felt isolated in his fear. Fear of being known as a Brightwell, a smuggler; fear of these thoughts that had been torturing him for weeks now; fear that he couldn’t free himself from Dario’s hold. _Utterly cornered._

“What book was it this time?” Dario asked, his breath heavy on Jess’ chin. _He’s slightly taller than me._

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jess whispered, and he watched as Dario’s eyes darted across his face, quick as ever. 

“Dammit, Jess,” Dario said. He sagged against the wall, his arm tightening over Jess’ windpipe. Jess’ insides shuddered as his name left Dario’s lips, and he hated himself more in that moment that he had when Brandon caught him looking at male porn. Jess knew Dario felt him swallow against his bare arm and watched from the corner of his eye as the man breathed against the wall. Jess silenced the whispers in his mind by reminding himself that he needed to shower, and that in order to do that, he needed to escape the arm over his neck. Regardless of the fact that he could easily push away independent of Dario’s wishes. 

“Let go,” Jess said. He felt Dario shift, but the arm remained firmly against his throat. “I want to shower and I can’t in the morning because your showers take a fucking half hour.” 

“Have you ever thought about someone other than yourself?” Dario said. Jess blinked and responded automatically. 

“Have you?” He felt Dario chuckle. The Spaniard turned to face Jess, letting his arm slide down to let his fingers rest gently against Jess’. Dario learned forward and rested his forehead against Jess’. Jess wondered if he was going to be sick. 

“What are you doing?” Jess said, his voice little more than a brush of air against Dario’s lips. He could see the soft darkness in Dario’s eyes, the haunt that Jess had seen in the starving and homeless in London, and had felt in the hallways Professor Wolfe stalked. It hurt, and Jess couldn’t blink. Dario glanced down and Jess felt his guts drop out to the carpeted floor with one fell swoop.

“Being selfish, scrubber,” Dario murmured before leaning in to kiss him. Jess nearly gagged he inhaled so sharply. Jess panicked that he was found out, that he would be lost, that he wouldn’t know how to respond, that we was thinking too much—but his lips were moving with Dario’s and it was heavy in his ears. With each gasping breath, Jess’ thoughts slipped away and Jess found his fingers clenched in Dario’s robe. They tangled into him and Dario responded in kind with long fingers curving under his jaw and behind his ears, tender where his mouth was sharp. Dario’s kisses were shards of glass and Jess longed to be cut over and over again. 

It was mere moments later that Dario pulled away as Jess chased avidly, his eyes dragging open sluggishly. _I feel drugged. I can’t concentrate like this._ “What book, Jess?” Jess’ heart froze.

It came out before he could pull it back. “Not you too.” Dario frowned slightly. _I won’t be used_. “It was _The Interpretation of Dreams_ ,” Jess continued, his will for naught under Dario’s burnished gaze. Regardless of the dull screams in the back of his mind, Jess continued. “The sphinxes smelled me on the way back. I ran, I’ve been running and running and I get back to here to find—“

“You ran from the sphinxes?” Dario hissed, his hands tightening around Jess’ jaw, reminding Jess that they were still there. 

“— to find you’re just like the rest of them, using me for my—“

Dario lunged forward and took Jess’ mouth again, which surprised Jess a second time. _I don’t understand anything anymore_ , Jess thought as he hungered over Dario against the wall. “Do you never consider,” Dario said, breaking for nips and breaths, “that your heroic antics put your friends to shame?” Jess licked along Dario’s angular upper lip and struggled to comprehend the question. 

“Don’t-“ Jess gasped when Dario nudged a knee between his legs and immediately ground into Dario’s leg. “--Understand. Don’t understand,” Jess groaned. Dario pushed away from Jess and stalked across the room. Jess nearly fell at the sudden emptiness. Dario growled under his breath and fisted his hair, pacing furiously between their beds. 

“Are you mad?” He said coldly, pausing to look over at Jess disheveled and speechless against the wall. “In Alexandria? While you’re a fucking _servant of the Library_? When you _know_ that people actually care about your fucking scrawny hide-“

“You know nothing,” Jess said, something between fury and longing threatening to choke him. 

“Then tell me, Jess!” Jess stared at Dario, perplexed. 

“What the fuck is this, Dario? What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Dario shook his head, his eyes glued to Jess, scalding and burning Jess. “I want—how are you so dull, Scrubber? You can find a hidden hoard of books in a wall and you can’t decipher this? Pathetic.” Jess shook his head in response, completely at a loss. _He’s all over the place, how does he expect me to keep up._ Dario took a step forward. “I wait up every night for you to return from your smuggling runs.” Jess swallowed, sure he was going to be sick with the combined intensity of Dario’s gaze and reveal of his familial identity. He remained speechless against the wall. “At first, I showered in the morning because you were a fucking prick and I wanted to annoy you. Then it was because you returned exhausted each night and I’d rather you sleep clean and sleep more.” Sweat licked down Jess’ neck. “I pay attention to things you don’t--" "How can you even--?" Jess choked, but Dario's glare cut him short. "--And I leave hints for Wolfe and Santi that you sleep early and hardly study so less would know about your nightly adventures.” Dario stepped forward again. “And you? You’re oblivious.” He laughed, an empty, humorless sound in the glow-light. “Khalila – beautiful Khalila- makes sure to greet you every morning. Thomas treasures your friendship. Morgan probably fancies you, and while I think Glain dislikes everyone, I’m positive she dislikes you the least.” Jess couldn’t see clearly anymore. He could only hear Dario take the last few steps before he was beside him again. “These people care about you, Jess. And you don’t fucking give a shit.” 

_No... no that's not true._

Jess inhaled and coughed slightly, wetness trickling down his face and he heard rather than felt himself slide to the floor. _What is happening?_ Jess struggled to think through the crashing waves of longing, confusion, hurt and downright exhaustion. _I just met these people, and yet I know they care deeply... but Dario, he wants something, that’s all. He’s always been arrogant. He wouldn’t understand why I need to run. What it means to be a Brightwell._

_All I know is how to be a Brightwell._

“Don’t make connections unless you can see a business opportunity,” Jess said, his voice uneven. Dario didn’t move. “Don’t leave the route, don’t stop for anyone.” Jess vividly remembered the women at St. Paul’s Serapeum. “Brightwell is a powerful name. Don’t foul it.” He looked up into Dario’s eyes and didn’t see pity. For that, he was glad. “You’re right, I don’t deserve the friends I have. But I won’t give them up. I won’t let you turn me in.” At this, Dario scoffed and turned to sit on the floor beside him. _Hell has frozen over, I’m sure, because his robe will be dirtied now._

“You think I’m getting handsy with you because I’m trying to get information out of you?” Jess shrugged, picking at the fine carpet below. 

“Why else?”

“Because I want you,” Dario said, taking Jess’ hand. Jess blinked. “Alive, preferably. And free. Unfortunately, I care too. And I don’t understand why you’re here and I don’t like that.” Dario paused and lifted a heated gaze to Jess’ gray ones. “Tell me.” _He’s more of a romantic than I would have anticipated._ “Jess, I care, too. And I can see that you’re inclined to me as well.” Jess rolled his eyes and raked a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling the tension ease. He inhaled deeply and felt the salty tracks on his face with his tongue. Closing his eyes, he imagined what his da would say if he could see him here, sitting beside a fellow Library member, contemplating telling him his reason for being there while also fighting the urge to crush him into the nearby bedsprings. 

Soft lips pressed against Jess’ cheek. Jess’ heart leapt and Dario’s scent washed over him as he felt the man swing himself over Jess’ lap. “You already know, so why explain,” Jess murmured, eyes still closed. 

“I want to hear you say it.” The words shifted the hairs against Jess’ forehead. And Jess did. The words came soft and short. He spoke briefly of his family, of his duty here in Alexandria, and mostly of his love of books. Of the perverted ink-licker. Of Greek fire and narrow London streets. Dario’s weight on Jess’ lap had him humming by the end, but he refused to open his eyes. 

“Are you satisfied yet?” Jess asked. Dario shifted and brought thumbs up under Jess’ eyes, stroking along the tender skin there. 

“No.” Jess felt Dario dip down and take his lips again, and once more let him. It was a battle that Jess couldn’t seem to fight. He didn’t understand how this had changed, and why now, but it was too good to deny. Dario even tasted lavish and heavy, and Jess lapped slowly at his mouth, letting his other senses replace his sight. And somehow, now that he had freely spoken once, he couldn’t seem to stop. 

“You think you’re so important,” Jess hushed into the dark. “You’re pompous and arrogant,” he sucked under Dario’s jaw and felt the growl against his lips, “and you’re intelligent and beautiful,” his teeth closed gently on Dario’s earlobe before he continued, “and I can’t understand that something so despicable fills my mind every night.” 

“Despicable? I’m hardly,” Dario’s breath hitched, “despicable.”

“My thoughts are,” Jess whispered, resting his forehead on Dario’s collarbone. 

“This doesn’t feel despicable,” Dario whispered. “It is not in Spain. Is it in London?” Jess nodded. _Perhaps I’ll never open my eyes again_. “Sad, really.” Dario forced Jess’ face up and smacked him lightly. “Open up, Jess.” It only took one try and he blinked to see Dario above him and wearing a gentleness that rocked him harder than any punch. “That’s the least of our concerns right now.” Jess concurred with a slight shrug. 

Dario cradled Jess’ head in his hands and Jess couldn’t remember ever feeling so cherished. Not by his twin, though they undoubtedly shared a bond that others turned their noses up to; not by his mother, who stood as a figurehead more than a parent; and certainly not by his father. “I’m going to ask you to stop risking yourself for others, Jess,” Dario said. “But I know you won’t. And I guess that’s something I’ll be fighting for a while.” Jess had no response other than a soft smile. 

“Now,” Dario continued, standing and leaving Jess cold in his absence. “Shower. And come to bed.” He turned and removed his robe in a single graceful movement that had Jess snickering as he picked himself up. 

“Yes, your Highness.” Dario sniffed and flipped Jess off as he slipped under the sheets with a Blank. 

“Don’t be long.” 

Jess didn’t take long. His exhaustion pulled at his eyes and he leaned against the tiled wall as he washed, but his mind was full of touches and sounds that the water could not properly imitate. He felt a burning inside his chest that was nothing physical like he had felt while enjoying his magazines, rather a fire that he would fight for and shout for and burn for. _I’m irrevocably lost._

Dario wasn’t asleep, though he was still and silent. Jess hesitated, glancing at his own bed, before Dario turned and blinked up at him from the mattress. _How did you upturn everything like that?_ Without looking away, Jess slipped in behind him and let his exhaustion take control. He wrapped his arms around the warmth of Dario’s shoulders and, after another moment of consideration, pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. Jess could already feel himself slipping into the dark of sleep. “You won’t speak of this tomorrow, Scrubber.” Jess snorted. 

_I would run into a battlefield to feel you like this every night._

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

 

By morning, Dario had Jess tucked under his chin. He wondered if this was the first and last time he would feel Jess was safe and protected from himself. 

_He’s been running his whole life, and yet he’s never reached something for himself._

_Don’t run from me, Scrubber._

_Please._

**Author's Note:**

> Interested in an addition? Lemme know in a comment ~


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